Art & Architecture

The Greydon House energetic vibe starts with its architectural style, a clever combination of Greek Revival and Second Empire styles that complement each other in surprising ways. Step through the front door and experience the cool darkness and warm, rich tones of a ship captain’s stateroom. Walk through the lounge and into the bar and spy the mural depicting the 18th century tea trade with China. Enter your room or suite and note the contrast between the antiques and the contemporary Dutch oils on the walls. And did we mention the Julian Schnabel near the elevator and the Terry Winters prints behind the front desk? It’s all is meant to evoke another time, another world. Settle in to Nantucket Greydon House-style.

Experience Historic Nantucket’s Charm

Originally Published in Architectural Digest

Change does not come naturally to the island of Nantucket. What was once a Colonial settlement and later a whaling capital now stands as an architectural time capsule of sorts—where every shingle, every roofline, and every exterior paint color is scrutinized for historic sensitivity. For construction to occur, let alone be embraced, is no small feat. October 1, however, the downtown district welcomes a new neighbor: Greydon House, a 20-room boutique hotel brilliantly outfitted by the Manhattan design firm Roman and Williams.

Comprising an 1850s Greek Revival residence and a three-story 2016 addition, the lodgings occupy an enviably central address, at the T where bustling Broad and Federal streets meet. One could be forgiven, though, for not immediately noticing the expansion. “People walk by and assume the whole thing is 19th century,” says real-estate investor Elliot Gould, who developed the hotel with his business partners, brothers Alexander and Jeremy Leventhal (all three local habitués). That was always their hope. As Alexander notes, “The extent to which the island has been preserved is unlike anywhere else in the U.S.”

Achieving this seamless look required the light touch of not only Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer, the husband-wife duo behind Roman and Williams, but also Matthew MacEachern, a Nantucket architect well acquainted with local politics and procedures. “You have to go to the board just to change the color of your front door,” he explains of the island’s notoriously stringent approval process. “If you had told someone three years ago that there would be this new building downtown, they would have said, ‘You’re crazy—it could never happen.’ ”